REPORT: ARMSTRONG MET WITH USADA ABOUT PATHWAY TO REDEMPTIONLance Armstrong recently met with the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to explore a "pathway to redemption," according to a report Wednesday night on "60 Minutes Sports" dealing with the investigation that cost the cyclist his Tour de France titles.

USADA CEO Travis Tygart, in an interview that aired Wednesday night during the show's premiere on Showtime, didn't discuss the meeting on camera and provided no details, including when it was held and where. The only mention, with no elaboration, came at the end of the segment.

Just maybe the Oprah show is the way LA has chosen as his "pathway to redemption".

That way gets to control his "confession" in such a way as to milk the maximum sympathy for himself in the process.

Burst into tears.........get a sympathetic hug from the queen herself and be forgiven on the spot.

Lance Armstrong is seeking a reconciliation with longtime nemesis Floyd Landis as part of his overall strategy to make a confession about doping, two people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

So far, the reconciliation attempt has not been successful. Landis, Armstrong's former cycling teammate, has been hostile to Armstrong because of his previous attacks against him. Landis was among the first to accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs, prompting Armstrong and his attorneys to fire back at him and portray him as a fraud.

If the two reconciled, Landis might drop a federal whistleblower lawsuit he filed against Armstrong under the False Claims Act – a suit the federal government has considered joining. At issue is whether Armstrong and others defrauded the U.S. Postal Service of around $30 million when it sponsored his team.

But if Landis rebuffs Armstrong and continues the suit, Armstrong probably would defend himself by arguing that the USPS did not suffer damages from his doping and instead profited from his performance. Landis didn't return a message seeking comment. Armstrong's attorneys have declined comment.

The Landis issue is one of several legal and personal considerations Armstrong weighed in his decision to make an admission about performance-enhancing drugs after years of denials, the people said. He plans to make the admission in an interview taping Monday with Oprah Winfrey at his home in Austin, Texas. The show will air Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Both Landis and Armstrong have been stripped of their Tour de France titles because of doping charges. Landis won the Tour de France in 2006, Armstrong from 1999 to 2005.

By finally admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Lance Armstrong is following a calculated plan to rehabilitate his image and pave the way for a comeback in public life, two people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Armstrong's strategy publicly.

It won't happen overnight, the people said. The famed cyclist instead hopes his planned confession to Oprah Winfrey Monday will start a multi-year healing process in which history will end up judging him more favorably because of his work fighting cancer and because he dominated cycling in an era when doping was the norm.

By confessing now after years of vehement denials, Armstrong also hopes to reduce distractions about the controversy for Livestrong, the charity he founded to support cancer survivors. It is a primary motivation for his decision, one of the people said.

The interview is scheduled to tape Monday at his home in Austin, Texas, and will air Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network. USA TODAY Sports first reported Friday that Armstrong planned to make a general admission in the interview while avoiding specific details.

Armstrong, 41, stepped down from Livestrong and was dropped by his sponsors after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a huge file of detailed doping evidence against him in October. He was also stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

His strategy is long-term. Armstrong does not expect to regain sponsors any time soon by confessing. He also doesn't expect to resume his athletic career any time soon after being banned for life. He doesn't even expect to sign a book deal right away, though there will be offers.

By contrast, if he decided not to confess, he was looking at a life of avoiding the subject and a pariah-like status in some quarters. Before the USADA evidence came out, he not only denied doping for years, but he attacked those who accused him of doping, including teammate Floyd Landis, with whom he is attempting to reconcile.

After the evidence came out, Armstrong stopped attacking and remained mostly silent on the subject. He had two realistic choices: keep quiet about it, or come clean. The latter option offered possible public redemption, even if it might take years.

"He appears to be gambling that the public will ultimately forgive him and he will be able to rehabilitate his image and earning potential," said Brian Socolow, a New York-based business attorney not involved in the Armstrong case.

Though he wasn't hurting for money, Armstrong's income was reduced by his lifetime ban and his sponsors' decision to drop him. Re-entering the public arena with a confession could lead to future income opportunities such as book deals, speaking engagements, sponsorships and even competition – all opportunities that would not be as likely or as successful without an admission.

A confession also could help him repair relationships with the cancer community. Armstrong, a cancer survivor, was forced to step down from the Livestrong board as the controversy swirled.

"Until we know what Lance has to say, we can't talk about it in theory," Livestrong spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Sunday.

Armstrong still faces potential legal trouble after his admission. If he fails to reconcile with Landis, Armstrong may have to deal with a federal whistleblower lawsuit that Landis filed against him under the False Claims Act – a suit the federal government has considered joining.

By admitting to doping, Armstrong also will give ammunition to two companies that have sued him for lying about it – The Sunday Times of London and SCA Promotions, a business in Dallas that paid his bonuses for winning the Tour de France. The Sunday Times took out an ad in Sunday's Chicago Tribune telling Winfrey what to ask Armstrong in their interview. Armstrong probably would hope to settle those cases if not fight them.

Criminal prosecution also is possible, though the Armstrong camp considers that unlikely, the people said. The federal government dropped a criminal fraud case against him last year without explanation. Armstrong also testified under oath in the SCA case in 2005 that he never doped, possibly opening himself up to perjury charges, although that also is unlikely because it happened seven years ago, beyond the statute of limitations.

find_bruce wrote:I voted no because there is no proof he ever doped & all you have is the word of a bunch of people who didn't win the TdF 7 times.

And the only person who says he didn't dope hasn't won 7 TdFs either.

Speaking of Johan (he is the only person who maintains that Lance didn't dope isn't he ?) has anyone heard from him lately - he seems to have gone very quiet since October for some reason

Bruyneel is busy re-writing his book having already changed the title to "We might as well cheat". Seriously, he's waiting to see if LA throws him under the bus before deciding what to say to the USADA.

greyhoundtom wrote:I might just have to change my mind about voting NoJust maybe the Oprah show is the way LA has chosen as his "pathway to redemption".That way gets to control his "confession" in such a way as to milk the maximum sympathy for himself in the process.Burst into tears.........get a sympathetic hug from the queen herself and be forgiven on the spot.

Absolutely!

Redemption is the objective and LA and his team chose wisely. Given the pulling power of Oprah, a hug and forgiveness from the Queen of Talk Show in the USA (or even worldwide) is worth far more than 10 "reasoned decisions" from USADA. It's going to be so easy to portray LA as a rider who grew up in a soup of doping of the time and he held back his confession for the last of his team mates. Just wait, this black spot of cycling will be all put in history and largely forgotten, cycling and LA will both be rejuvenated in time. The PR team will re-cast him to be that reborn American hero. That's just how big bucks PR spinning works and how so many in society will fall for it.

Quite apart from whatever legal battles Lance might have coming his way in the US, if he admits to PED use, possession & transportation in one or more European countries is he open to those countries pursuing him in some way? Is some French or Italian magistrate going to look into this? I wonder?

There is a reason Armstrong is going to Oprah, not a real journalist who has the knowledge to ask the tough questions.

Watched it, Norbs, now I just don't know what else to say to you.

Oprah as a mainstream talk show host was as good as could be hoped for with Jones.

Her feelgood show is not Frost vs Nixon, not even Sixty Minutes, but she repeated she found Jones' excuse hard to believe, and even asked why she didn't connect her improved performances to these supposed flaxseed pills.

I have no idea what Lance might concede in his interview. It will be on his terms, not the TV network's, and is apparently happening very much on his home turf. Thirty of his lawyers and management staff could be standing off camera for last minute sidelines coaching or pull their boy out of the chair if there's a deviation from script.

Armstrong admitting to doping in the Oprah interview was pretty much well flagged (I voted he would). Much more interesting is that he reportedly will testify against UCI officials, so McQuaid's days are numbered (thank God!).